Duff: Jost a wildcard for Canada

Tyson Jost stands out in the crowd on the Canadian national junior development roster. A forward with the BCHL's Penticton Vees and a 2016 first round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, he's the only player among the group who doesn't play in the CHL.

Tyson Jost knows all about big wins on the world stage by legendary Canadian hockey teams.

He heard about it most every day while playing in the BCHL for the Penticton Vees.

“It’s a hockey town and there’s a lot of tradition throughout that town,” Jost explained Wednesday.

Back in the winter of 1955, the Vees, then a senior team, restored Canada’s pride on the ice.

A year earlier, the Soviets burst on the scene and blasted Canada 7-2 at the world championship to take the title.

The Vees were sent to the 1955 world tournament to restore order and put Canada back on top of our game and they delivered, ripping the Russians 5-0 en route to a world crown.

Tyson Jost, the first-round draft pick in the 2016 NHL Draft of the Colorado Avalanche, talks to reporters at a news conference in the team’s locker room on June 27, 2016, in Denver.David Zalubowski /
The Associated Press

More than 60 years later, another member of the Vees is anxious to do likewise.

Canada finished sixth at the 2016 world juniors and that’s just distasteful to the vast majority of Canadians, Jost included.

“I really want to help this country win another gold medal,” Jost said. “I think Hockey Canada belongs on top, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to help get them back there.”

As Canada partakes in this week’s four-team tournament in Plymouth, Mich., that is part of USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp, Jost could best be described as Hockey Canada’s version of Austin Powers.

He is their international man of mystery.

Not to hockey people. No, you don’t go 10th overall in the NHL draft, as Jost did this spring when the Colorado Avalanche selected him, without being something special on the ice.

It’s the hockey public for whom Jost, the only invitee to Canada’s national junior development camp who didn’t play in the CHL last year, remains somewhat of an unknown.

Based on what he displayed in Canada’s tournament opener, a 2-1 overtime loss Wednesday to Finland, Jost will be winning over plenty of fans before long.

Canadian coach Dominique Ducharme inserted Jost as the centre on his top line between returning veterans Lawson Crouse and Travis Konecny, and they provided Canada a 1-0 first-period advantage when Jost set up Konecny for the goal.

“I thought we had a little bit of chemistry right off the bat,” Jost said. “We were moving the puck well. It’s tough when you come here and you haven’t really played with any of these players, so you’re trying to get used to them pretty quick.

“I thought we did a good job of getting used to each other and moving the puck. We all have pretty good speed and we were utilizing that to our advantage.”

The scouting report on Jost is lengthy, detailed and impressive.

He put up 42-62-104 numbers in 48 games last season for Penticton, and is headed to play NCAA for North Dakota this fall. He’s been called captain material and his game favourably paralleled to the man who’s now his boss, Avalanche GM Joe Sakic.

“He’s a special player and it shows,” Konecny said. “The way he plays with his speed, his head up, he’s tracking back and he’s making sure he’s getting back and playing a 200-foot game.

“It makes it easier to play with a guy like that.”

Jost has nothing against the WHL, where he would have played major junior, but feels his development as a player will be best served by going the college route.

“That’s a pretty world-class program,” he said of North Dakota. “They have so many things that you can utilize to help step into the NHL.

“I think if I really utilize all of the opportunities they’re going to give me down there, it’s going to help me get to the pros quicker.”

In the meantime, he’s anxious to be a part of returning Canada to the top of the podium, although admitting his Canadian hockey heroes are a little more contemporary than Penticton legends Grant Warwick, Mike Shabaga and George McAvoy, who brought Canada gold in 1955.

“I remember watching the world juniors when I was a little kid,” Jost said. “Guys like Jordan Eberle, Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby and all those amazing players who went through this program.

“It’s pretty surreal when you get that call, but when you get here it’s all business.”

Jost is here to work, and to work his way into a position where he can be the latest hockey star from Penticton to return Canada to glory.

Point shots

• Arttu Ruotsalainen had a goal an assist in the victory for Finland, including the game winner at 1:20 of overtime. Eeli Tolvanen also scored … In Wednesday’s other game, Windsor Spitfires forward Logan Brown scored late in the third period as the United States rallied from a 3-0 first-period deficit to Sweden 4-3. Erik Foley, Jordan Greenway and Troy Terry netted the other American goals. Jens Looke, with two, and Sebastian Ohlsson tallied for the Swedes.

• There are 30 NHL first-round draft picks counted among the rosters of the four countries playing here in Plymouth. Canada leads the way with 18, followed by the United States with nine. Sweden has three, and Finland none … On the flip side, the Finns suit up 17 players who are draft eligible in 2017. Sweden has eight, the U.S.A. and Canada three apiece.

• Finland has drawn players from seven different leagues — nine from the SM-liiga, their home league, four from the OHL, including Windsor Spitfires forward Julius Nattinen, two from the WHL, one from the QMJHL, four from Hockey East, three from the USHL and one from Sweden’s Eliteserien.

• Finnish coach Jukka Rautakorpi’s hands are always in motion as he speaks. He accidentally spilled a reporter’s recorder from his hand in a post-game media scrum, quickly apologizing. “I guess I should talk more with my mouth and less with my hands,” Rautakorpi said … One of Finland’s assistant coaches is Aleksander Barkov Sr., father of the Florida Panthers forward who will play for Finland in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.

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